WEBVTT TO REPORT IT TO AUTHORITIES. >> BUT THESE DANGEROUS DRUGS DID NOT MATERIALIZE OUT OF THIN AIR. THEY FLOODED OUR STATE BY DESIGN. >> ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDY BESHEAR ADDED WALGREENS TO THE LOGAN LIST OF DRUG MANUFACTURERS AND DISTRIBUTORS HIS OFFICE IS SUGITA FOR THE OPEN ODEN EPIDEMIC KILLING KENTUCKIANS EVERY DAY. >> ON AVERAGE EVERY DAY WE LOSE FOUR PEOPLE TO A FATAL OVERDAYS. >> HE SAID 80% OF PEOPLE ADDICTION BY TAKING PRESCRIPTION PILLEDS. >> THEY CREATED CAMPAIGNS THAT THERE WAS NO REAL RISK OF ADDICTION. >> THE KENTUCKY OFFICE OF DRUG CONTROL POLICY RECORDS 1,104 OVER DAYSES IN 2016, AN INCREASE OVER 2015. >> SO AS A DISTRIBUTOR UNDER KENTUCKY AND FEDERAL LAW, THEY HAVE A DUTY TO ALERT THE D.E.A. TO SUSPICIOUS AND LARGE ORDERS. >> WALGREENS JOINS FIVE OTHER COMPANIES BESHEAR IS SUGITA RELATED TO THE EPIDEMIC IN KENTUCKY. HE SAYS HE IS NOT DONE YET. >> I WILL CONTINUE TO HOLD COMPANIES THAT HELPED FUEL THIS EPIDEMIC ACCOUNTABLE. THEY HAVE A DUTY TO HELP US REPAIR, TO DIG OUT, TO FIX THE PROBLEM THEY HELPED CREATE. >> WE REACHED OUT TO WALGREENS FOR COMMENT AND THE COMPA

Kentucky is suing Walgreens, claiming the pharmacy played a role in the state's opioid crisis.

The state's Attorney General Andy Beshear says the retailer, which sells opioids through its pharmacies, used "unlawful business practices" to fuel the epidemic in Kentucky.

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Thursday's complaint, filed in Boone County, claims that for more than 10 years, Walgreens filled "massive" and "suspicious" orders of opioids and failed to report them to authorities or put a stop to the shipments.

Beshear wants Walgreens to stop "over-dispensing opioids" and "filling suspicious orders." He also wants the company to pay back the amount it earned from the alleged illegal gains.

Walgreens officials declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Beshear said in a statement Thursday that Walgreens has "significantly harmed the health of our families in fueling the opioid epidemic."

He has filed a number of lawsuits regarding the state's health crisis. This year, he sued drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, as well as opioid distributors AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson Corporation, over what the suits claim are their roles in Kentucky's epidemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2016, more than 42,000 people died of opioid overdoses. Kentucky has been hit particularly hard.

"I want to make sure these billion-dollar companies take responsibility and become a part of the solution," Beshear added.

Other companies have tried to stem the crisis by strengthening policies and making it easier to destroy leftover pills.

In January, Walmart introduced a way to safely destroy leftover opioids at home. and in May, the company announced it is limiting the duration of opioid prescriptions and requiring they be filled electronically. The new restrictions follow recommendations from the CDC.

CVS Caremark, the prescription benefit manager for CVS, began capping first-time prescriptions at seven days in February. Officials with Purdue Pharma, which makes the opioid OxyContin, said in February that it will stop promoting the addictive painkiller to doctors.

Kentucky's lawsuit follows similar actions by other groups.

Delaware sued CVS, Walgreens and others over opioids in January. Last month, Florida's attorney general filed a suit against several drug-makers and distributors. The Cherokee Nation filed a similar suit in April.